Congratulations on making it to Thursday! Just one more day after today and you’ve made it to another weekend.
Almost every Thursday we take a look at some of the numbers in the news. Today we look at millionaires, insurance, the Brawl of the Wild, bankruptcy, dating, approval ratings, buying a house and a lot more…
15,000,000,000,000
Our national debt surpassed $15 trillion yesterday. Meanwhile, Republicans blamed the Democrats and Democrats blamed Republicans…
Maybe fire everyone and start over?
1,600,000,000
The Associated Press reports that Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich received “at least $1.6 million for consulting contracts stretching from 1999 to early 2008” from Freddie Mac.
4,988,504
According to this story on the USA Today website, Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) is worth $4,988,504.
Must be nice to be able to eat steak…
1,141,002
According to this story on the USA Today website, Montana U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is worth $1,141,002.
Looks like we may have two millionaires running against each other in 2012…
85,005
According to this story on the USA Today website, Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is worth $85,005.
Poor Max…but his former staffers are rich…
388,000
That’s the number of new claims filed for unemployment last week.
Still too high. If you have a job, cherish it…
51,000
That’s how much (in U.S. dollars) President Obama is insured for in case he gets attacked by a crocodile in Australia’s Northern Territory city of Darwin.
I’ve actually visited Darwin and there are a lot of crocodiles there. Beautiful place, though…
17,200
That’s the capacity of Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman (Montana), site of the annual Brawl of the Wild football game between the Montana State University Bobcats and the University of Montana Grizzlies football game, which is this Saturday. (There will be more than 17,200 at the game on Saturday)
1968
On this date in 1968, NBC outraged football fans by cutting away from the final minutes of a game between the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders to air a TV special, “Heidi,” on schedule. The Raiders defeated the Jets, 43–32.
Don’t mess with football…
250
According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Congress has 250 millionaires. There are 535 members of Congress, so that’s about 47%.
How does that compare to your place of work?
111
On Saturday, the University of Montana and the Montana State Bobcats will play for the 111th time in the Brawl of the Wild game.
Yes, I will be watching – it’s football. I am neutral…
79
In 1904, the Montana Grizzlies beat the Montana State Bobcats 79-0 for the largest margin of victory in the series.
That was a whipping…
78
According to this article (and it’s probably more relevant today): “By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
I’d like to have that opportunity…
69
The Montana Grizzlies have won 69 of the 110 games played against the Montana State Bobcats.
There was a time (16 years -1986 through 2001) that it seemed the Griz beat the Cats every year and children grew up thinking it was just a normal thing…like the changing of the seasons.
24
According to this story on the USA Today website, there are about 24 members of Congress who have a negative net worth (look toward the bottom of the chart).
Many of those folks are like most of us…
17
That’s how many years 88 year-old Paul Walker and 87 year-old Ann Thayer dated before they got married.
Wow…best of luck!
13
According to a new Gallup Poll, “Congressional job approval remains at 13% in November, identical to October and tying the all-time Gallup low on this measure.”
I wonder if they know they suck this bad.
1
According to this report, former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno “quietly transferred complete ownership of his house to his wife for $1 less than four months before the bombshell sex abuse scandal erupted.”
What did Joe know and when…
0
That’s the number of millionaires on the staff here at The Western Word.
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